1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to infant car seats, and more particularly to an ergonomically designed frame for the infant carrier portion of infant car seats, and to an infant car seat incorporating the frame.
2. Description of the Related Art
The infant car seat market is a saturated market. However, many of the improvements therein relating to increasing the manageability of the infant carrier portion have been limited to solutions for functional problems and weight displacement. Unfortunately, such efforts do not focus on other means of increasing the comfort of the parent or caregiver who lifts, holds or carries the infant carrier. While such devices as shoulder straps and differently shaped handles may help to some degree, general weight displacement solutions ignore some of the more glaring sources of parent or caregiver discomfort.
The handle provided with currently available car seats requires that a person carrying the car seat by the handle maintain his or her wrist in a twisted position with the palm of the hand facing either forward or backward and the weight of the carrier below the hips, which can be uncomfortable when transporting the car seat for any extended distance. Regardless of how the weight is displaced or whether the hand is turned inward or outward while carrying the infant carrier, hard fins or protrusions of the plastic frame pressing into the side or leg of the person carrying the infant carrier cause a significant amount of discomfort. The myriad assortment of handle and strap variations available do little to address this common problem. Few are strong enough to carry the infant carrier with an infant aboard in such a way so that the frame of the car seat does not rest upon her or his body at some point, typically the side or leg.
Also, often the parent or caregiver will not utilize the available lifting means at all when lifting the infant carrier out from its base in the automobile or simply from a resting position elsewhere. She or he will frequently instead grasp another section of the frame and support the weight on the hip. The relatively sharp and rigid edges of the carrier make this position relatively uncomfortable, except for short distances. For example, due to the relatively low roof in many cars the typical U-bar handle extending directly upward above the car seat is not practical for the task of lifting the infant carrier out of the base. The job is accomplished much more easily grasping the top and bottom of the infant carrier, or in some circumstances, the two sides.
While these sections may be the optimal gripping points for lifting, holding or carrying in certain situations, currently most infant carriers are not designed to better facilitate such options. Consequently, the parent or caregiver must grasp hard plastic frames that dig into their hands and sides as they lift, hold, or carry the car seat. Hence, there is a need for a special infant carrier frame designed addressing all of the above listed problems.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,354,475, issued Mar. 12, 2002 to Grace et al., discloses an infant carrier for holding an infant while walking. The infant carrier features contoured sides and a lengthwise-aligned U-bar type handle. U.S. Patent Publication No. 2003/0015896, published Jan. 23, 2003, describes an infant seat for holding an infant while walking. The infant seat includes small pads at various locations, such as beneath the handle and on the sidewall, to increase the comfort of the one carrying the invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,277,472, issued Jan. 11, 1994 to Freese et al., discloses an infant car seat with a removable infant carrier section. The base of the seat remains attached to the automobile seat. The car seat also features hand slots in addition to the handle.
Other patents in the field of infant car seats and carriers include U.S. Pat. No. 5,207,476, issued May 4, 1993 to T. H. Payne (infant seat with longitudinally-oriented handle); U.S. Pat. No. 6,378,937, issued Apr. 30, 2002 to D. A. Faudman (retractable infant-seat shoulder strap); U.S. Pat. No. 5,540,365, issued Jul. 30, 1996 to M. E. LaMair (strap suspension system for infant car seat) and U.S. Patent Publication No. 2002/0117520, published Aug. 29, 2002 (portable infant carrier including a mattress pad and a pivotally mounted plate).
None of the above inventions and patents is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus, an infant carrier frame solving the aforementioned problems is desired.